MO Supreme Court upholds life sentence for juvenile in death of St. Louis cop

Norvelle Brown had been a police officer for less than a year when he was shot and killed in August 2007. The state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a life sentence for the young man convicted in the officer's death.

(St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept. via UPI)

The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of a St. Louis teenager who was 15 when he shot and killed a St. Louis police officer.

Antonio Andrews was convicted in August 2009 of shooting to death Officer Norvelle Brown, who had attempted to talk to Andrews and at least one other juvenile. Andrews was certified as an adult to stand trial on first-degree murder charges, which meant that under state law, when he was convicted, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

On appeal, Andrews challenged the process used to certify someone as an adult in Missouri, and the life sentence without parole. In a 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of both the certification process and the sentence.